A too short night
by Hell-and-bliss
Summary: A little Javier/Lanie moment happening during the beautiful 5x15 'Target'. In other words, Esplanie's reaction to Alexis' kidnapping. This is what I would have loved to see between these two because I adore them together. Very short One Shot, Javier's POV, Esplanie. Please read, enjoy, and review :)


_A too short night_.

OS post 5x15 Target.

Dedicated to all the Esplanie shippers thinking they definitely don't have enough screentime on the show. ( btw guys, keep tweeting Marlowe and Terri Edda about it! We need MORE of them, don't we?!) Love these two.

Hope you'll enjoy!

...

It had been a long and tedious day. It was almost eleven pm, and Javier Esposito was leaving the precinct for the first time of the day. He quickly walked to his car to protect himself from the freezing cold of that winter's night. Once in his car, seated on the driver's seat, he let out a heavy sigh as he closed his eyes.

Javier put his hands on the steering wheel and let his neck rest against the headrest, enjoying the first seconds of rest of the day. With the case, the kidnapping of Alexis Castle, beloved daughter of his partner and friend Rick Castle, the precinct didn't have had any rest. Ryan had left half an hour before him, and Kate was still at the precinct, at this time. When Javier had decided to leave for the night, his leader, partner and friend, was still sitting on her desk, endlessly staring at the whiteboard with the photo of the pretty redhead teenager on it.

Javier had told Kate to leave as well and have some rest, telling her that even Gates had left, and that another team was gonna work on the case so they could have some rest for the night. But Kate didn't care. She wasn't gonna leave the precinct before she had a real lead on Alexis's kidnapping. Esposito knew Beckett was about as passionate as he was, and that's why they got along so well actually.

Javier made some small rotations with his head to relax his muscles...He was exhausted.

Now, he had to find enough motivation to drive to his place and have some rest for a few hours, before heading back to the precinct first hour in the morning, and do everything to find Alexis. Oh, he hated that feeling. The feeling of failure, helplessness, of not being able to do things good, not having done enough to protect ... Because as a cop, it was his duty to protect young girls from being kidnapped.

Then for a few seconds, Javier thought about Rick Castle. He tried to imagine the anxiety he could feel, for the first night without his daughter. Suddenly, he felt his phone vibrating from the pocket of his jeans. Javier opened his eyes, pulled out his phone and glanced at the caller ID.

With a tiny smile, he slid his thumb on the touch screen of the phone to accept the call.

"Hola, chica."

_"You're finally answering ... I called at least ten times."_ replied the shy and tired voice of Lanie Parish.

"Sorry, Lane...didn't see you called."

_"Still at the precinct?"_

"was about to leave, actually. Just got in my car." He explained, while tying his belt.

_"Still no news, huh? "_

"Nope. It gets complicated." replied Javier in a sigh. Lanie also sighed. It was a sigh full of anxiety, Javier had felt it. He knew her by heart.

"You okay?" he finally ask, after a few seconds of silence.

_"... No. "_ Lanie mumbled a trembling voice._ "I'm scared for Alexis."_

"Me too, Lanie. "He replied." But it's useless to be worried sick ... we're all exhausted ... You should try to get some sleep, okay? '

_"I can't sleep ... Not tonight ... Not alone ..."_ she whispered, just before sniffling. At this moment, Javier wondered if she was crying.

_"Wanna come over? I mean ... sleep here?"_ She shyly added. She even had hesitated a little. _"Please..."_ She whispered a few seconds later, hearing no answer.

"Sure, sweetie. I'm coming."

He couldn't say no. Not to her. Not that night.

After all, it wasn't the most surprising thing ever that she asked, as they both had spent the whole night together after Valentine's Day, and kept seeing each other for a long time, now.

_"Thanks."_

...

Twenty minutes later, Lanie walked towards the door, dressed with a purple nightgown, a bit too light for the season.

When she opened the door, Javier's smile almost made her swoon and even smile herself, despite the situation.

"Hey ... thank you for coming." She whispered, as he walked by and entered her apartment.

"No thanks needed."

Lanie closed the door behind him with her key, and turned around to face him. They stared at each other for few seconds, and without another word, the medical examiner took a few steps toward him and ran aground against his chest, wrapping her arms around him.

Slightly surprised at first, Esposito wrapped his arms around her as well.

"Lanie ..." he whispered, before kissing her in her hair.

"I'm so scared, Javi..." she whispered, her voice broken.

"I know, chica. Me too. "

"If we don't bring her back, Castle's life will be forever destroyed. "she sniffed, lifting her beautiful eyes to meet his.

"I know all this, baby. Stop crying"

"I can't. " She swallowed, before sniffing again. "Kate, too, will be broken. How can people even kidnap children?! There's nothing worse."

"I know. " Javier nodded again, stroking her long black hair, in the hope, perhaps, to calm her down a bit.

"I can't even imagine Castle's distress tonight... I saw him crying, Javi. When we found the van. He burst into tears in front of me and Kate. It just...broke my heart. " she stammered, new tears beading from her eyes.

Javier said nothing but kissed her again on the head ... there was nothing say. What Lanie just told him was enough to imagine the excruciating pain of his writer friend. And he also hated seeing her crying.

"If it was my daughter ..." Lanie didn't even finished her sentence and bit her lips.

"If it was my daughter, it couldn't even had happened, because I would have handcuffed her to her bedroom's desk. And, she wouldn't have been allowed to go out before her thirty-five birthday anyway."

Against his chest, he felt Lanie giggle. She looked up at him, revealing for the first time that evening, her beautiful white teeth.

"Oh really..."

"Yup."

"Since when do you talk about having children anyway?" she smiled, a little surprised.

Esposito stared at her a few seconds, silently. His intense gaze made her shiver.

"'started thinking 'bout it when we were together. I mean ... really together. "

Lanie kept looking at him after that, without blinking. Her mouth parted slightly.

"Javi ..." she finally muttered. She raised on her tiptoes, grabbed his cheeks with her hands, and gently kissed him on the lips.

"You're so cute." She whispered when she broke the kiss.

"Just being honest. "He corrected.

Lanie smiled, then she grabbed his hands.

"You want something to eat?"

"I had a sandwich at work ... wasn't even hungry, tho... '

"Drink something then? Water, coffee?"

He smiled and shook his head again.

"Nope. Thanks, chica. I just want a bed, I think I'm gonna collapse soon... "

Lanie replied with a smile and nodded.

"Sure. Come on." She whispered, guiding him by the hand to her bedroom.

As they arrived in her bedroom, Lanie released his hand and turned to face him. She helped him removing his jacket while he took off his shoes one after another. Once he was just wearing his sweater, pants and socks, Lanie took his hand again and led him to her bed. No sex that night, and the both knew it already. They were exhausted, both physically and morally. Javier walked around the bed, pulled the sheet and blanket, and lay down on the right side, -his usual side-, while Lanie climbed on the left side, slipped under the sheets and curled up against him. He snuggled his head into his pillow and bowed slightly, approaching Lanie's head, that was resting against his chest. Javier stroked her hair, and drop a tiny kiss on her head, before closing his eyes.

"Good night, Javi. " she whispered, surrounding the belly of her off/on boyfriend with her arm.

"Good night, baby. "

...

When his phone vibrated around four o'clock in the morning, Javier Esposito jumped. The night had been short. Too short. His eyelids were heavy with sleep, and it took him a few seconds to realize that his phone actually vibrated from the bedside table where he had put it before going to bed.

Quickly glancing towards Lanie who had completely fallen on him, her arm still around him, Javier grabbed his phone and tried his best not to wake her. He quickly read the text from his partner Kevin Ryan, before sighing. He had to go back to work. Find Alexis. He had to do it for Castle. And his motivation to the idea of finding Alexis outweighed his very tired body and mind, and even outweighed the fact of spending a night in Lanie Parish's bed, moments he always cherished.

So, gently, he pushed away the young woman who had apparently adopted him as a pillow, and pulled out of the bed. Lanie didn't wake up, and fell back on the mattress, asleep. He smiled, she had always been a heavy sleeper. He leaned silently, and put one last kiss on her hair, happy to see her relaxing and getting away from this dark story for a few hours.

Putting up his coat and shoes on, Javier kept looking at Lanie sleeping, and couldn't help but made himself a promise. Silently, he promised himself that he would never let this happen to their future children, if they ever had some, and he wanted to have kids with her...for such a long time, now.

That night Javier also promised himself that he would do anything to find Alexis. For Lanie, for Kate, for Castle and his mum.

He was a good cop. And he would do anything.

_The End._

_**Thanks for reading! Always and forever I apologize if there is any spelling mistakes, English is NOT my first language. Please review if you liked it :)** _


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